Overview

Mining and Blacksmithing are the definitive plate armor and weapon crafting loop. Mining provides every ore Blacksmithing needs, and Blacksmithing converts those ores into plate gear, weapons, whetstones, and profession tools that every other crafter in the game needs from you. For plate wearers — Warriors, Paladins, Death Knights — this combination eliminates Auction House dependency for gear upgrades and provides consistent income through tools and consumables.

This guide is written for a raider starting from zero in Midnight. Midnight uses only two quality tiers — Silver and Gold (Bronze is gone). Gold quality is the target; Silver is always better than nothing while you build KP.

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Part I — Mining

Two trainers teach Midnight Mining.

Trainer	Zone	Coordinates
Belil	Silvermoon City	/way #2393 42.6, 52.8
Saren	Silvermoon City	Horde-accessible alternative

What Changed in Midnight

• Only two material quality tiers: Silver and Gold (Bronze removed)
• Refining has been removed from specializations — ore feeds crafting directly
• New currency: Artisan Miner's Moxie — spend it on Knowledge Point items from the profession vendor
• 40 KP in Meticulous Mining unlocks mounted mining — invest here early

Ores

Three primary ores and one rare side gather define Midnight Mining:

Ore	Node Types	Primary Use
Refulgent Copper Ore	Standard and seam nodes	Blacksmithing early recipes; Engineering components
Brilliant Silver Ore	Standard and seam nodes	Mid-tier Blacksmithing, Jewelcrafting
Umbral Tin Ore	Standard and seam nodes	High-end Blacksmithing, Engineering
Dazzling Thorium	Rare side gather from all node types	High-demand across Blacksmithing, Engineering, Jewelcrafting

Dazzling Thorium is the most valuable material Mining produces. Like Nocturnal Lotus in Herbalism, it drops as a rare bonus from any node type and is required for high-end recipes across multiple professions. Always mine every node you pass to maximise Dazzling Thorium accumulation.

Themed Node Types

Mining nodes in Midnight have interactive mechanics that produce Motes — reagents consumed across all crafting professions:

Node Type	Zone	Interaction	Reward
Lightfused	Eversong Woods	Catch falling motes for bonus resources	Motes of Light
Voidbound	Scattered zones	Void circles slow movement; hazardous mining area	Motes of Pure Void
Wild	Zul'Aman	Summons Rumbling Orelings — defeat to mine	Motes of Wild Magic
Primal	Harandar	Channels health during harvest; rooting effect	Motes of Primal Energy
Rich	All zones	Standard nodes with larger yields	Bonus ore

Leveling

Mining levels naturally while questing. Mine every node you encounter.

• Mine all three ore types across Midnight zones for first-mine KP bonuses
• Prioritise Seam nodes over standard nodes — they yield significantly more ore per interaction
• Invest 40 KP in Meticulous Mining immediately for mounted mining

Specialization Trees

Tree	Focus	Key Unlock
Meticulous Mining	Vigor restoration + core efficiency	Mounted mining at 40 KP — mandatory early investment
Plentiful Ores	Yield bonuses per ore type	Increased Dazzling Thorium and standard ore per node
Over-LODED	Themed node mastery + Overload	Maximum value from Lightfused, Voidbound, Wild, Primal nodes

Spend order for raiders:

1. Meticulous Mining to 40 — mounted mining is the most impactful single unlock. Invest here immediately.
2. Plentiful Ores — more ore per node directly increases Blacksmithing output. Dazzling Thorium yield improvements are especially valuable.
3. Over-LODED — invest here once your base ore yield is solid and you want to maximise Mote income from themed nodes.

Knowledge Points

Source	KP Gained
First mine of each ore/theme combination	+1 each
Weekly quests from Belil	+3
World treasures	+1–3
Eight open-world Mining treasures	+3 each
Knowledge books from vendors	+10

Hunt the eight open-world Mining treasure locations in week one — they're one-time +3 pickups and the fastest way to front-load your KP.

Tools & Profession Gear

Mining tools are crafted by Blacksmiths and Engineers.

Tool	Crafter
Thalassian Pickaxe	Blacksmithing
Sun-Blessed Pickaxe	Blacksmithing
Farstrider Rock Satchel	Engineering
Junker's Big Ol' Bag	Engineering
Farstrider Hardhat	Engineering
Sin'dorei Gilded Hardhat	Engineering

As a Blacksmith-Miner, you can craft your own pickaxe — the Thalassian Pickaxe is self-sufficient from day one.

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Part II — Blacksmithing

Three trainers teach Midnight Blacksmithing.

Trainer	Zone	Coordinates
Bemarrin	Silvermoon City Hub	/way #15969 43.6, 51.6
Arathel Sunforge	Silvermoon City	/way #15969 69.6, 84.4
Chrysalius	Voidstorm	/way #15458 51.4, 69.2

What Blacksmithing Produces

Category	Products	Notes
Plate Armor	Helmets, shoulders, chest, legs, gloves, boots, belts, bracers	All plate armor slots; endgame and leveling sets
Weapons	Swords, axes, maces, shields, polearms	All weapon types for plate and non-plate classes
Consumables	Whetstones, repair hammers	Per-pull weapon and armor buffs
Profession Tools	Tools for six other professions	Picks for Mining; knives and toolsets for Leatherworking; hammers for Engineers
Housing Décor	Anvils, weapon hangers	Consistent secondary gold source

Blacksmithing supplies tools to more professions than any other crafting profession — Mining (picks), Leatherworking (knives and toolsets), and others all need Blacksmith-crafted tools. This creates consistent demand regardless of what the gear market looks like.

Specialization Trees

Blacksmithing has four specialization trees requiring 775 total KP to fully max.

Tree	KP Cost	Focus
Craftsmithing	105	Secondary skills: Ingenuity, Resourcefulness, Crafting Speed, Multicraft
The Old Ways	120	Core alloy recipes and foundational smithing techniques
Armorsmithing	345	Plate armor by slot — the primary tree for plate-wearer self-sufficiency
Weaponsmithing	205	All weapon types; Gold-quality weapon output

Spend order for plate wearers (self-gearing priority):

1. Armorsmithing — this is the largest tree and your path to crafted plate armor across all slots. With Optional and Finishing Reagents unlocked through this tree, Gold-quality output becomes achievable. This is what you're here for.
2. Weaponsmithing — weapons are the highest-budget gear slot. Crafting your own weapon provides the largest single stat gain available from Blacksmithing.
3. The Old Ways — alloy recipes and foundational techniques that improve the efficiency and quality of your core crafts.
4. Craftsmithing — secondary skill gains for ongoing crafting efficiency. Fill this last.

Spend order for gold-making / service focus:

1. Craftsmithing — secondary stats improve every craft you do for other players. If you're running a crafting service, this improves your output consistency first.
2. The Old Ways — unlocks alloy and foundational recipes in constant demand.
3. Armorsmithing and Weaponsmithing — invest based on what your server has demand for.

Leveling

Skill Range	Method
1–67	Trainer recipes using Refulgent Copper and Brilliant Silver Ore
67–100	Specialty recipes from specialization trees, world drops, or vendors

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How They Work Together

Mining and Blacksmithing are a closed ore-to-gear loop:

• Every ore you mine feeds directly into Blacksmithing — Refulgent Copper, Brilliant Silver, and Umbral Tin are the primary inputs for all plate armor and weapon recipes. A Miner-Blacksmith never buys ore.
• Self-craft your own pickaxe immediately — unlike most profession-crafter combinations that need an external source for tools, Blacksmithing produces its own Mining pickaxe. Craft the Thalassian Pickaxe on day one. This is genuinely unique — you are tool-independent from the start.
• Dazzling Thorium drives high-end output — it's required for Gold-quality armor and weapon recipes. Your Plentiful Ores investment in Mining directly impacts when you can start producing endgame quality gear.
• Tool demand is evergreen — Blacksmithing crafts tools for six other professions throughout the expansion. Leatherworking knives and toolsets, Mining picks, and similar items are needed by every server's crafter population regardless of the gear cycle. This provides income outside of gear patches.
• Whetstone and repair hammer consumption — every raider uses weapon buffs and armor kits each week. With Blacksmithing, your own consumable costs are covered.

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Weekly Checklist

Mining:

• Complete the Mining weekly quest (+3 KP)
• Farm ore routes for Blacksmithing stockpile
• Mine themed node variants for first-mine KP (first week only)
• Check Artisan Miner's Moxie vendor for Knowledge book availability

Blacksmithing:

• Complete the Blacksmithing weekly quest
• Craft one Gold-quality item (+2 KP)
• Restock whetstones for personal raid use
• Check crafting order board for tool and armor requests
• Process any Dazzling Thorium into high-tier recipes

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Two-Week Plan

Week 1 — Foundation

Days 1–3: Level both professions while questing. Mine every node; use the ore for Blacksmithing trainer recipes immediately. Craft the Thalassian Pickaxe the moment Blacksmithing is learned. Invest first KP into Meticulous Mining (40-point mounted node) and Armorsmithing (plate armor progression).

Days 4–7: Push both professions to 67 via trainer recipes. Complete both weekly quests. Hunt the eight open-world Mining treasure locations. Start building a Dazzling Thorium stockpile by mining every node on your routes.

Week 2 — Raid Ready

Days 8–10: Reach skill 100 in both professions. With Armorsmithing developed, you can now craft plate armor with Optional and Finishing Reagent slots, improving Gold-quality output. Begin fulfilling crafting orders for other plate wearers.

Days 11–14: Craft your first Gold-quality plate armor pieces with Concentration. Invest KP into Weaponsmithing for weapon crafting. With consistent Dazzling Thorium supply from Mining and Armorsmithing developed, you can produce endgame gear. You are gear-independent.

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Tips & Common Mistakes

• Craft your pickaxe on day one — Blacksmithing self-supplies Mining tools. The Thalassian Pickaxe is available immediately at skill 1. There is no reason to delay this; it's the most cost-efficient thing you do all session.
• Armorsmithing is 345 KP — it's the largest tree in Blacksmithing and takes significant time to develop. Don't expect Gold-quality armor in the first week. Plan your KP path and invest consistently. The tree opens up Optional Reagent slots incrementally as you go.
• Dazzling Thorium is the bottleneck, not the ore — standard ore flows quickly from Mining. What limits your high-end crafting output is Dazzling Thorium. Plentiful Ores investment in Mining improves this. Never sell Dazzling Thorium to the AH until you have a stockpile that exceeds your crafting needs.
• Tool demand never stops — even between raid tiers, players are leveling, gearing alts, and picking up secondary crafting professions. Blacksmithing tools for Leatherworkers and Miners sell continuously. Keep a stock for crafting orders.
• Seam nodes outperform standard nodes significantly — when planning ore farming routes, prioritise paths that pass seam node spawns. The yield difference over a farming session is substantial.
• Silver gear sells for more than you expect — Silver-quality plate armor is still a real upgrade for players in normal-difficulty or early-heroic gear. Don't vendor Silver crafts; list them on the crafting order board or the Auction House.